Editor's note: Below is a compelling blog post that looks at the 26-year long civil war in Sri Lanka from the perspective of a filmmaker who met two young Tamil women planning to be suicide bombers. We do not know for sure what happened to the two women she interviewed, though there is a report both survived the war. We know even less about most of the suicide bombers' victims, many of them possibly innocent civilians from the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka. What we do know is that the war is finally over, after the loss of more than 70,000 lives and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

Filmmaker Beate Arnestad with the mother of Darshika – a young woman who joined the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

For a few years I lived in paradise: in a tropical environment on an island called Sri Lanka. Every morning I woke up in my four-post bed in Colombo –watching the dawn creeping in through my mosquito net and listening to the awakening sounds of all the tropical birds greeting a new day. I had moved to Sri Lanka from Norway because my husband had been posted there.

But paradise was not perfect. There were many slum areas and stray dogs eating garbage. There were countless beggars, dirty street children and pollution. There was also an unavoidable military presence.

There was a ceasefire in effect, but the city was not back to normal. Every major street was patrolled by heavily armed soldiers. "What do they fear?" I asked.

The reply was always the same: "The terrorists, the Black Tigers, these crazy suicide bombers."

I found there was very little written on the group except that they had begun operations in 1987, that about 30% were believed to be female, and that their most famous action was the murder of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Therefore, I decided to make a documentary film and find out more about this group.

I was told that my chances of success were poor, and that the Tamil rebels, the LTTE, lived in utmost secrecy in the jungle of the guerrilla-controlled areas in the north. Nobody from the outside world could get in touch with them, but somehow I managed.

I recall at one military checkpoint, an inspector told me, "Madam, I wouldn't advise you to leave the government controlled area. On the other side, there is no one to protect you."

"I will be fine," I said with a smile.

When I got to the area controlled by the Tigers, I first saw the Tiger banner, then the cadres in their striped uniforms. The females had their long hair tied up like a braided pretzel. "We're so happy you made it safely to our side," they said. "We will look after you and you will be safe here."

The war-torn territory was full of red signs warning about landmines. There were no five-star hotels; only vacant paddy fields and the untamed jungle reclaiming what once had been buildings but were now ruins of war.

For many months, I traveled in and out of my two worlds, continually trying to convince the Tigers to accept my proposal to make a film on my conditions – which meant no censorship and no screening for their approval. I wasn't interested in talking to leaders and politicians. I was interested in those who had no other alternative but to remain in the war zone – the true victims of war. Eventually the Tigers agreed.

In order to select my main characters, I had asked the guerrillas to organize a kind of casting call for a film about suicide bombers. It was a strange experience. After interviewing 20-30 girls, I decided on Darshika, a 24-year old Catholic beauty and her best friend Puhalchudar. Their friendship was also very special as they had been living and fighting together every day for seven years.

What was the difference between freedom fighters and terrorists? And who decided? As I became more and more drawn into their world, such questions demanded consideration.

As we prepared to begin filming, I asked the girls about their morning routine. "We get up at 4am and then we exercise," they said. "Fine," I said, "We'll be there."

We quickly learned they led a disciplined, Spartan existence. They slept in a tiny room on mats on the floor. When they got up, they braided each other's hair, and then began their early morning karate session. Both had black belts and were eager to impress me with their skills.

With the camera rolling, they explained how they trained to be suicide bombers. They talked about putting on a claymore bomb vest and planning for their own deaths. They explained how once the bomb exploded, their heads would separate from their bodies and take flight – their bodies reduced to tiny pieces.

"How do they select who will take a particular mission?" I asked the girls. They explained that they usually played spin the bottle; the one who wins is chosen, but they were all were eager to be selected. They were also eager to talk.

None of the girls who had been trained to be suicide bombers the previous year were still alive. My subjects were only alive because of the ceasefire.

Eventually, I came to understand that there was no real difference between a normal Tiger cadre and those preparing for suicide attacks. They all expected to die – either in battle, by blowing themselves up, or by biting the cyanide capsules they all were instructed to swallow instead of submitting to capture.

The girls constantly tried to impress me with their toughness. I knew they were not just killing machines, so I asked them directly, "Are you not human beings. Don't you have hearts?" They were surprised at the question and replied that, of course, they had hearts, but, "We can't touch it. There is too much pain in the chest."

Darshika took me to her church; actually mere ruins of a church on a beautiful beach. She knelt in front of the statue of Virgin Mary – which had not been destroyed – and cried, prayed and asked for forgiveness. All at once, her tragic childhood story poured out; how she had seen the churches bombed and the people seeking shelter turned into a bloodbath; how no one could protect them from being slaughtered like animals. That's why she had decided to join the struggle: she would rather die fighting for a better future than being butchered. She had wanted to become a Catholic nun, and now she would sacrifice her life, just like Jesus.

Her friend, Puhalchudar, broke down when she showed us the horrific conditions in a refugee camp – similar to the one she had been displaced to. She told me that rather than a life of slavery, she would fight to liberate her people.

After this, the relationship with the girls changed. I felt almost maternal towards them. When we traveled, I gave them my soft cushions. And they would fall asleep like babies in the car. They were vulnerable children and also deadly weapons. My feelings for them were truly mixed.

I also met Darshika's mother. She must have been my age, but her life was so different. She talked about bringing up a family in the middle of a brutal and never ending war. She only had the one sari she was wearing. Her handbag was absolutely empty. Darshika had disappeared when she was 11 or 12 years old, and her mother really didn't know her anymore.

Our intention was to follow the girls for a longer period and to come back in a few months for further filming. Little did we know that this was the last time I would see them.

I went back to my normal life in Colombo. Whenever I contacted the Tigers, they said: This is not a good time to come, please call later. I called and called until I realized the girls had been transferred for good. I was told that they were planning a mission, and there was no way I could find them.

Six months later, I went with the crew to film a Heroes' Day celebration. This is the time where Tamil Tigers and their supporters gather at cemeteries to honor those who have died for their country. They decorate the tombstones with flowers and light candles, they cry and pray beside the graves. Photos of the new martyrs are displayed. There are also parades.

While looking for the girls, I saw Darshika's mother. She was also searching for her daughter. We agreed to meet in the church the next day. When I showed her footage of her daughter, her eyes filled with tears. "Seeing her is almost like being with her," she said. This was the last time I saw her as well.

A few months later, the war resumed. I returned to Norway to put together my documentary. The Tigers never responded to my calls or emails. A few months later, I got news that someone had seen the girls – and to my surprise, they were very much alive.

On the other hand, I was told Darshika's mother had been killed. After the release of the film, Sri Lankan authorities had identified her as a Black Tiger Mama. Some people believe that is the reason she was executed.

The Tigers lost their struggle. It is believed that thousands died in combat and that thousands died due to shelling and air raids. Toward the end of the war, the entire Tiger controlled population (approximately 300,000) was driven into a small strip of land by the sea. No one from the outside world had access to the war zone. It is believed that thousands again lost their lives as there was starvation and heavy fighting, and no place to hide.

By May 17th, the Tigers' battle was forever lost – their leaders killed and the entire civilian population driven into war camps. There are no words to describe their losses and sufferings.

soundoff(141 Responses)

As always, CNN has once again shown itself to be a news leader in covering stories that are hidden from the world. As seen here with the Sri Lanka Genocide, CNN has brought attention on injustice and war crimes in South Asia. As a Human Rights worker in Canada, I applaud your effort in reporting truthfully unlike other mainstream medias!

An excellent documentary, and more works like this will give us a better understanding of the conflicts that we conveniently package it as “war on terror”.

It is disgusting how the Sri Lankan government have taken advantage of this “war on terror” to suppress the Tamils and it is more disgusting that we let such a genocidal government take advantage of us.

What a tragic story. Human suffering experienced by tamil civilians, sinhala civilians living in boarder villages, LTTE cadres and the Sri Lankan armed forces had been colossal. I think there should be a forum to discuuss the experiences of the subjects representating these four groups in order to establish a true national reconciliation. My humble appeal to his Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and the potential presidential candidates to postpone this stupid presidential election and work out for a suitable forum for national reconcilliation. The final text emanating from this forum should made a compulsory text in our schools so that this type of horrific episodes would never be experienced by our future generations.

while the author does a commendable job of humanizing the sadness inherent to conflict, it is only the sadness of one side that has been documented.

suicide bombers may be targetting legitimate targets of war, but the collateral damage they cause leave behind a grief that only feeds the cycle of violence.

in the modern world, violence cannot be considered a legitimate political mechanism, for if it were the case, no nation will ever be able to grow.

these are the same suicide bombers that shared the methods and the madness with Hamas, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. While I respect their goals, i must quite respectfully denounce the tactics employed to achieve them.

for the first time in my life, i have a homeland where there is no war. that in itself is cause for joy. it does not matter if I am a tamil or singhalese, it only matters that I as a Sri Lankan am now able to look forward to an era free of abrupt and mindless violence.

thousands of people on both sides of this conflict has died. this nation has lost many generations to this bloodshed. it is time for us to look forward and work towards something instead of looking over our shoulder at the past and running away from it.

Tamil or sinhala all are same.look at the immagines of this girl.If she have her own makeups at a hair dresser instead of the gun and guarlla uniform she will be a good looking young girl.what makes her to choose this way.no answer..........
Good to here the war is over and at least lots of lives like her will be save and no more characters like this and not for ever im my country even a tamil or sinhala

Children in abject poverty, children suffering heinous abuse and rich capitalists never caring enough to do something about these lost lives (Darfur, Haiti and others). I find it to be totally immoral. Powerful people need not rest until children are safe, cared for, housed, fed and educated. It is only this deep lack of Integrity that allows these dreadful conditions to persist all over this world.

This article offers a rather romantic view of the female fighters and suicide bombers of the Tamil Tigers.But it is worthwhile to remember that one of these females assassinated the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

before the so called civil war started, srilanka was 1 of the best educated country in the region, with 100% literacy rate. now, look at the war ravaged country and it's inhumane conditions! was it worth it? was it worth destroying a country &/or a society for those power grabbing politicians of the region and their cronies?

I hear people saying the war is over, but I don't think peace has been achieved. And the longer we wait to address this the higher the chances are that Sri Lanka will descend into violence again. Another poster here asked what it is that makes a young beautiful intelligent women chose to carry weapons and strap a bomb to her.... really the answer is simple...have her integrity and security stolen from her.
For years the Tamil people were subjected to oppression, discrimination and political isolation. Where political maneuvering failed to push their agenda, violence did. Does that make it right... absolutely not. So the more relevant question is how do you make sure that we put in place a political process that doesn't isolate a community... when we find the answer to that, then perhaps we will no longer need violence as a political play.

CNN, great job and please bring more to the world about what Tamils are facing today by the authoritative Srilankan govt. There are a lot of untold atrocities committed against Tamils living there. I ask the readers of this bog to at least know what the conflict is about and how the Tamils were/are being treated as 'Untouchables'.

It is not just a "Murder of Rajiv Gandhi", it was the brutal assasination of the Indian PrimeMinister "Rajiv Gandhi" and the murder of countless indian civillians, people who provided food, shelter and support to the SriLankan's.

Thanks for being objective with your blog, in reading it the question you brought up of who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter rang to me.

today we are told that so many people are terrorists, but the question is are they really terrorists or are they fighting for what is truly theirs.

as in your article you said:
[The reply was always the same: "The terrorists, the Black Tigers, these crazy suicide bombers."]

and as you got to know these so called terrorists you found that they are indeed people who are struggling to get what they deserve which is security.

one must question if the statements we hear today:
"The terrorists, the al queda, these crazy suicide bombers."
"The terrorists, the taliban, these crazy suicide bombers."
"The terrorists, the what ever group out there, these crazy suicide bombers."

we are to question are they truly terrorist or do they have a legitimate claim.

Thank you for your article, because it does allow for this question to be asked.

Great blog on this much ignored issue (ignored by CNN itself this blog being an exception...).

These lines were most poignant:
" Don't you have hearts?" They were surprised at the question and replied that, of course, they had hearts, but, "We can't touch it. There is too much pain in the chest.""

Interesting article. Wonder if she could go to Afganistan or Iraq and do a documentary on families there. This is typical propaganda from a Norwegian, who helped a brutal terrorist organization whose goal was to kill not only innocent sinhalese, but also Tamils.
What's also interesting is the the Tamils living in countries like Canada talking about genocide. Nobody can believe the Sri Lankan government was able to dismantle the brutal LTTE and wipe them out from the Sri Lankan map.
If Norway wants to help, now is the time. They should help all Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka look forward to a bright future.

As usual Norwegians siding with Tamils. Why did Norway sell arms to LTTE, If they really had peace in mind? When LTTE chief was holed up, delegates from Norway were frantically trying for cease fire so that the war lingers on. Why not write a blog about it rather than showing up human side of suicide bombers.

Hi
The main question we have to ask is why and how LTTE was formed. It is because of the successive Sinhala governments’ act- suppressing Tamils and pouring violence against poor innocent Tamils- if you are a Tamil in Sri Lanka you can be arrested, killed , raped robbed or humiliated by any person belonging to majority Sinhales community.
How many more freedom fighters will be born in current government run camps for Tamils? What you expect a human to do when his/her parents, siblings or loved ones are brutally killed in front of your eyes by the government forces.
Thank you for shedding light on some truth

The author has shown a commendable effort by bringing the people behind wars into the lime light.It's an issue of concern for the government of every country to look into the fact that innocent people are never dragged into such complexities.

Srilankan war a.k.a. Tamil genocide reminds us now in this new world of soverign nations,there is nothing to stop a race from being erased by it's own government.If a government decides a section of it's population be made "peacefull" by killing most of them ,there is no country in the world not even the mighty US can do anything about it.

(1) Tigers had a chance to declare and hold elections; legitimize their hold on their captured area. They believed in only Military solution – in part there is no chance that Sinhala parties will agree for a political solution

(2) Now, Sinhala leaders have a chance to comfort and make peace with Tamils but looks like history repeats itself.

(3) There is a victim inside every outlaw.

(4) War on Terror itself has been feeding the terror across the globe. Too bad it fails to distinguish Al Queda type organizations from others who fight for right cause.

(5) Gandhi was successful because he had to fight British; if it was against Sadam Hussein probably he would have failed with his non violence means.

(6) Globalization is applicable to these kinds of struggles also. Unless we address root cause of the problems that started these strugges, only the form of revolt will change/

No offense selvamani but it is those with your attitude on both sides that have led to this bloodbath. I mean as a civilian what am I supposed to do but pay taxes so that the army can stop these two girls from blowing up my bus on the way to work? I did not bomb their church however I have to pay with it with my life through instruments such as suicide bombers. I don't feel sorry for the girls because is the author going to come and pay respects at my funeral when I get blown up by them? I think not. Understand that it is the need for blind revenge and blood lust that send this situation out of control and more lost their lives. How could we put down our foot and tell our leaders enough is enough when we were targeted? I could be a single parent just trying to make ends meet when I fall prey to one of the girls and whose gonna care for my kids? These are points the author severely fails to mention before feeling sorry for these girls. Now if they took their grief and campaigned to help their fellow civilians its a different story but to blindly take lives in revenge; come on? These are things to consider before falling prey to sob stories. I am not for the ruling coalition in Sri Lanka but it is obvious this woman is using handles like church, kids to influence westerner's minds which is what Norwegians are good at.

While the blog provides a glimpse into the life of a female suicide bomber, it does not address the real reason why such a young soul could be duped into committing one of the worst acts a human being could ever undertake. The article does not reflect the aftermath of the bloodbath that ensues a suicide bombing, not does it explain how this horrific tactic can ever result in any form of a peaceful settlement. In my opinion, suicide bombing is one of the lowest forms of human sacrifice and it does not result in the liberation of anyone, rather it adds to the misery of a society. I am terribly bothered by the fact that the writer claims that she almost had a maternal relationship with these young girls. Please tell me, what mother would not try to convince a child that her life is precious as much as the hundreds of lives she would kill or maim. In my mind there are many who can be blamed for the ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka. Let’s start with the British who try to divide and conquer Sri Lanka by giving more opportunity to the Tamil minority who decided to march in line with them. Then there are the Sri Lankan politicians, who over corrected to give rights to the Sinhalese majority after independence was granted. Of course, how can you forget the LTTE, who killed every reasonable politician who could have brought this nightmare to an end decades ago and brainwashed innocent girls like the one in the article. They perfectly squandered every peace negotiation, however imperfect a deal they may have been at the initial stage. And don't forget the "armchair wallas" now living in Canada, UK, Australia, and US who funded the LTTE and are ready to run when the fast bullets were flying and the death count was mounting. Finally, I place the blame on the parents for allowing their young ones to be treated like this by the LTTE and for reveling in their death by suicide. How could they justify the end to this means? Perhaps by praying to the God’s – no merciful God would forgive this kind of horrific killing. Last but not least, I place the blame on writes such as Arnestad, who have a miniscule understanding of the history of Sri Lanka and write half truths (read her last few paragraphs – she claims that the shelling and displacement was all the work of the armed forces!) and thereby reducing the values of a society, which I love, to half of nothing. Surely, reconciliation cannot and should not begin with such a narrow and imprecise focus.

One of the best blogs on Tamil Struggle/life in Srilanka ... now everything is lost.
As always, CNN has once again shown itself to be a news leader in covering stories that are hidden from the world. As seen here with the Sri Lanka Genocide, CNN has brought attention on injustice and war crimes in South Asia. As a Human Rights worker in Canada, I applaud your effort in reporting truthfully unlike other mainstream medias!

There's always chaos and suffering post war. As much as I sympathize for the refugees, and feel their pain...I also feel their relief that the war is over. Everyone is in the process of pulling themselves together and it will take a while. I hope one day Sri Lanka can be a prosperous nation. It is said that Singapore strived to be like Sri Lanka one day (before the war of course). Look how far they've come.

War crimes, genocide...sadely these are words often used to describe the war against terrorists in Sri Lanka. And not surprisingly it's the foreigners and the foreign diaspora who make such comments, pretending to know the grief of the common Tamil people. Any idea what Sri Lankans, immaterial wether Tamils or Sinhalese living in the other areas of the country went through? Talk to people living here and you would hardly find a person who is not grateful to to the government for ending the brutal terrorism. For the last so many years, whenever we went out in Colombo you never knew whether you'd be killed by these very girls, blowing themselves up randomly. We quit travelling in public transport because bombs were going off killing thousands of people. Lights flicker and you hide under beds because you fear of LTTE air raids..Ofcourse, the LTTE is a terrorist group so you won't call what they did genocide or human rights violations right, because they're expected to kill? Ridiculous that you who have no idea what its like to live in war for 30 years to call a government which finally ended it a genocidal government.

at least thamils will have a consolation that they are not real crazy people, what they said is very true. Its better to die like this then being slaughtered like animals. at last there are few news about the real reason behind the war waged by tamils. will tamils get justice? that is still billion dollar question. we tamils will never realize it till we actually get it. thanks for showing the other side of the world.. we tamils had a great history and for sure we are yet another hour of darkness.. we will come out and we have to.. the world will realize that very soon. The world projected the ltte as terrorist organization thats fine. when you fight a ruthless state terror of course your method will also become ruthless. as the saying goes your enemy is the one who will decide your weapon not you (mao also said). if you look at their life they lived like spartan. Thanks for the words "We quickly learned they led a disciplined, Spartan existence". They all died for a purpose the freedom for the people which is still eluding.. we got to wait and see whats on the store for our tamil people... thanks for telling the story about tamils..
thamilarasan velmurugan.
"Every inside has an outside... Every outside has an inside"

Thank you for an excellent documentary! Sri Lankan forces are expert in bombing churches, schools, hospitals and temples. I have seen them all. The are also very good at killing innocent people like my grandparents!!!!!!!!!!! No one can understand TAMILS pain.

Hi, I am from Sri Lanka. Let me put forward a very real ground situation. Not a single Tamil person is ill-treated in Sri Lanka. In fact, tamils and sinhaleas and muslims and everyone else have lived in peace in thi beautiful island for centuries. Anyone who says that tamils are ill-treated is talking without being aware of the ground situation.

War, either in Sri Lanka or anywhere else is bloody and violent. There is no kind and gentle war. You can't win your rights by terrorizing or by violence against an other.
If you fought a kind and gentle war, you will be in the loosing side.
the only way to protect human rights and human suffering is to win your rights and freedom by non violent means. If you bear arms be ready to kill and get killed.
It is unfortunate so many killed in Sri Lanka. But the Sri Lankan government had no choice. This is the only way for them to end the 30 year war without dividing the country and dragging it for another 30 years. Hope here after peace will come to Sri Lanka and Tamils will adopt non violent means to seek their rights.

I cannot believe CNN is publishing this biased, cold hearted article. Why not interview the people killed by theses girls she glamorizes? Why not do something constructive for these girls besides exploiting them for a story?

Thank you for those of Sri Lankans who speaks of one nation, and for the rest of you from both the community in SL as well the foreign 'arm chair' winners – please find some other topic to decide.

Majority of the Sri Lanakans – Shinhala, Tamil, Muslims, Burgers, Moors and all; we are for one nation, one focus and one Land. Those with limited views and racial hatred – please go find something to do other than instigating hatred and bloodshed.

Our Land used to be "the pearl of Indian Ocean" and today see what is of it – bare and barren with cheapstake and unqualified politicians running amok and making a mockery of the Nation.

Lets just hope at least we will get a Leader that can rise soon and unite the entire nation together.

Tamil SUFFERING?? Typical Norwegian BS. How about the thousands of inncocent Sinhalese that have died because of the suicide bombers profiled in this biased documentary. BTW "Chuck", it is the LTTE that introduced suicide bombing to the Al Quaeda. Maybe you can thank them for the carnage they caused on 9/11.

unbelievable, shocking, and sad! Sad for all the innocent people that become victims as a result of a group of uneducated poor people that just dont know any better. We must reach these young people before terrorism reaches them! How? now that is the struggle.

Hopefully more countries unite to rid of terrorism so we can ALL live in peace EVERYWHERE!

Since the war is over, if the Sri Lankan people can lay down their pride and start helping all the Tamils who have been displaced, Sri Lanka will be a better place. Unfortunately after months, seems like the Sri Lankan government could care less about all the men, women and children. The only thing the Sri Lankan government is doing is laying a foundation for another organization to come up. Now is the time to act and show the love. Don't mess it up again Sri Lanka. You are all brothers.

The day LTTE killed Rajiv Gandhi their dyas were numbered. India played big game to destroy LTTE. I know how India helped LTTE. Also who ever helped LTTE were all killed by them.I'm a tamil and I was against LTTE from day one. I knew the end was coming to LTTE.'

How can it be objective if it looks at one side of the argument? Terrorism should be crushed whether it be in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or anywhere else. Resorting to terrorism is hardly the way to win your rights.

It is sickening to read some of the comments justifying LTTE terrorists! It is the same mentality that you see in the Islamic world where they justify Islamic terrorism. The bottom line is that anyone finding absolutely any justification for any form of terrorism is legitimizing these terrorist groups, and thereby, giving up the right to be safe! If we really want to have a safe and secure world, we must condemn all forms of terrorism, but I think most people are too shallow to do so!

"An eye for an eye will make the world blind" .... Mahatma Gandhi.
I have read hundreds of account of Sri Lankan government atrocities but a armed struggle can never be the right path for an kind of objective, there will be death destruction and hatreds every where. Thats my take on the Sri Lankan affair.
And the documentary seem as a very humble step in showing us that those once dreaded Black Tigers are human being after all and they are driven to this madness may be because of circumstances, because they were forced into it or may be because they wanted it. Reason might be millions but one thing is true that in the end they want to have a peaceful existence.

perfect documentry, also it should reach each and every in thw world who speaks nonsence about our struggle, mostly people said sucide bombers are brain wash,here they spoke out open heart. Did they say they are forced to send by the LTTE leadership to distroy the enemy? Obvioulsly not, they have heart as they mention but couldnt touch it because that is full of pain, so they realize only the medicine instead of how US soldeiers given Marijuavana and other drugs while they are in battle field, they chose the better to free from their pain.Their way way to go, but for world corrupted politician like Bush ( he came the first infront of me the TERROIST) , these girls seems to be terrioist, judgement upto the public, but I welcome the author for her out standing performance in this documentry, will hope lots of like these come very soon

Beate Arnestad is the filmmaker behind various documentaries, including “My Daughter The Terrorist.” Should be aware that Norway and its appointed representative Erik Solheim had a great involvement in the LTTE Tiger Terrorists activity. Their support, vocal, financial and equipment prolonged the tragedy.

It is believed the Norwegian interest was to acquire positions in the oil deposits in Northern Sri Lanka and the Tuna fishing grounds around Bay of Bengal. These selfish commercial interests caused the lives of over 70,000 innocent Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka is a Sinhala nation, ruined by tamil terrorists! Now that we defeated terrorism, these westorn countries media are trying to bring the terrorists back. saying war crimes. they are sucide bombers. they kill sinhalese and want to take over sri lanka. it is my country. how wold you americans feel if osama bin ladan took over your country? becuase you cant defeat terrorism you feel bad that we did. grow up america. i thought a african american president would make the country smarter, but i guess it didnt

This is to support the LTTTE terrorist. The rectification of the terrorist acts by showing false material is the motivation of this film. For the viewers who do not know much about Sri Lanka or its history these fake stories seem true, but the underlying motivation of the film is to market the propaganda of LTTE terrorists.

Such a shame, this beautiful child and her cause being killed by a brutal Army – they should have been allowed free passage out of their final retreat... so that they could go on to kill more Sri Lankans, and their children – after all they have a reason to fight for their cause just like Al Qaeda or other terrorists who are ALL somebody's children!

Thank you Arnestad for making such a wonderful movie so everyone could understand that suicide bombers are not as evil as they are made out to be and have also have a human side to themselves. Can you please cover the decendants of Osama Bin Ladin in the same kind-hearted manner next? (By the way, while all Tigers are Tamils, not all Tamils are Tigers – but then you cannot be expected to understand that or care).

Another person getting exotic personal PR profit out of an exotic partisan fight with that extra portion of sexiness with the jungle thing and women and what not.
Who is the used and who is the user.

Someone is feeling super-heroic here, walking into the jungle with a smile, only to tell the warner in the face what a no-no he is and how his respectful address is a pile of devote stuff, only there to rise above it on a throne of self-satisfaction.

Modern PR-deals, – only the deluded fighter for the powerless is full of lies, since vanity is the real winner here and rules the approach.

Well, – could be like this or could be different, – who knows...
speaks to me like this between the lines, – but then again, maybe it was the editors vanity after all, – or maybe its all brave and pure-hearted.

An utterly pathetic one-sided attempt to whitewash terrorists. Biased actions such as this what led to Norwegians being removed as peace negotiators..The LTTE propaganda wing must would have indoctrinated the 20-30 girls who were put up for casting...

Why put this up now, when the refugees have been given the freedom to leave the camps..Why re-open old wounds when the country is moving towards reconciliation..Sour grapes over a third world country defeating terrorism perhaps..Or is it a renewed attempt to stoke the flames of violence and keep the strategically placed island destablized??

p.s. – I am yet to see a documentary showing the humane side of the 9/11 highjackers..Such is western hypocrisy

Great job by CNN, congratulations. This is an area neglected by media as well as world military powers equally while thousands were distressed, displaced and dead for no good cause ( compare the media captured by 9/11).

The catch to the LTTE saga highlights the following crucial points:
1. Who wants the area to be declared as a war zone ? They would support that status by providing primarily the funding for the show.
2. Where is the source of the huge fund and weapons flown into the region ? Sent by wealthy LTTE supporters relocated mainly in the West; those who enjoy the luxuries of the West and do not have to feel the heat of the war.
3. If it is for independance of the relocated Tamils from India; is that a legitimate reason for this horrible bloodshed leading to the death of more than 70,000 ? What guarantee is there that the same Tamils / Sinhalese from Sri Lanka settled in the Western countries ( 300,000 in Toronto alone, more in London, UK ) would not demand the same independance in the UK , USA, Canada and rest of Europe ? Or is it already in the agenda of the brainchildren of LTTE around the world ?
4. The millions of dollars, Euros and Sterlings collected and sent to LTTE organisations from several countries as revealed by investigating government agencies is a well known secret. The main expenditure other than arms and ammunitions is surprisingly the hefty sum offered to the families of the recruited suicide bombers ! The price for the life and act ! Hence no sympathy for the girls in the CNN story. This is a shame whether done by LTTE, AlQueida, hamas or IRA . This should not be entertained in this 21st century.
5. Sri Lankan Tamils are one of the most intelligent, clever, hardworking and highly educated group compared to any other ethnic group world-wide. We need to add more wisdom as well. Whether a believer or not individuals have no moral right to kill or even put another person to suffering. Animals get better protection than the targets of LTTE.
6. If a sweeping global search for the moral supporters of LTTE is undertaken by every nation and monitor their involvement the war in Sri lanka will be a history and the country will prove to be a real paradise on this planet. Let us all hope and work towards world peace.

The human side of war is always very humbling, but the fact is poverty has a great role to play in this.
All over the world , i have heard instances where people have become suicide bombers to feed their families.
Have always liked Amanpour's reporting style.
This article does give a good insight of the vulnerable nature of the young minds being inluenced into such heinous acts.
Arnestad has done a good job.
Hope to get more meaningful reporting on such subjects in future.

sorry cnn. why you are still talking about srilanka.what has USA done with irak and afghanistan.nobody talk about that typ war crime,so sri lanka fought aginst the tamil tigers not tamil people.we all srilanken sufferd last 30 years.so all srilanken should thankful to present president.

I can't stop crying...... What a pathetic story! When will all these stop??? We now have female suicide bombers... thats not so nice. We should all embrace peace and learn to live together in love. War won't take anywhere instead to bring ruins and destruction.

For those, who wish to know, how the Tiger grew is to read, Daily Thanthi. I'm not sure, whether it's available on the web..
The Extent of Harm caused by Sinhalese to the Tamilians was the birth of LTTE.
Ask any Tamilian in SL, he would voice out, what they did or i can state, what they have left untouched.
Tamilians being considered as Minority was an upper edge to Many sinhalese due to this, they have to face Humilation.
one Proverb in Tamil-" SADHU MIRANDAL KADU KOLLATHU" it means that when a tame persona is needled, the impact cannot be withstood. SL Soldiers, took everything for granted, abusing, beating, human trafficking of Innocent tamil girls, all tihs lead to formation of the group.
Now the war has come to an end but nobody knows, what happened Inside, a lot of it has been buried without being brought to Notice.
SL Army & Govt are responsible for thousands of Innocent Killing.
I believe, Tamilians all over the world will voice out or suppot this statement..

I agree with Udhara. There will be always be sunshine after rain. There will always be laughter after pain and this
has always been the same (lyrics from "why worry now" by Dire straits).

Wars and pain has always been since the dawn
of time. But so is peace and laughter. life in this world is just a journey as everybody has to pass on.Wise is he
who learns from history and tries not to repeat it.

Interesting...no country is perfect..in US minorities such as the blacks, hispanics may feel oppressed...and justifiably so. And in Sri Lanka too we have the same situation where certain extremist segments of the population (Sinhala and Tamil) make life hell for everyone else..a majority of us just want to live in peace..

I am not a Sinhalese or a Tamil, I am a Sri Lankan who loves Sri Lanka. I live here with all its imperfections knowing that yes, injustices have taken place..terrible things (July '83 to begin with) but if we continue to live in bitterness of the death and destruction (the countless numbers that died due to suicide bombs included) that has ensued , we will never be free..caught in a cycle of violence and hatred.
Forgiveness (from both sides) though difficult ( but not impossible) is essential if we are to go forward...
We have it in us to change...I truly believe this..

I do not claim to have lived a tough life in the conditions described..but i do know how it feels to live with the threat of bombing, to fear for my children to wonder whether i would be alive to get back home in the evening...and trust me...it is a unbelievable feeling to know that that threat has subsided.

The differences between freedom fighters and terrorists are their targets and the way they act.
If they attack military targets, while openly identifying themselves as combatants, like wearing a uniform that would outline them from civilians – those are freedom fighters. If they target civilians that were not in initial combat area or if they are disguising themselves as civilians hoping that opposing military won't attack them – those are plain terrorists. And the suicide bombers – those are worst kind – no sympathy for them – they have forfeited their own humanity.

The Tamils in Lanka need to tone down, aceept Srilankan as the national language and move on... thing are that simple... LTTE ha complicated it for the country, while allowing for a lot of Tamils to seek asylum in the West. This is similar to Khalistan movement beingused to get immigration vias to the West, mainly Canada and UK.... no more. Thi i a scam, a sham.

In response to Ali's post: Obviously you sympathize with these organizations in some form. Al-Qa'ida's goal is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs." Bin Laden has stated that the only way to establish the Caliphate is by force. Al-Qa'ida's goal, therefore, is to overthrow nearly all Muslim governments, which are viewed as corrupt, to drive Western influence from those countries, and eventually to abolish state boundaries. Also, Al Qa'ida Issued a statement under the banner of “the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders” in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens—civilian or military—and their allies everywhere. This leaves no room for any questions of legitimacy. It is a one way ticket to 'terrorist'-land.

"On the other hand, I was told Darshika's mother had been killed. After the release of the film, Sri Lankan authorities had identified her as a Black Tiger Mama. Some people believe that is the reason she was executed"

If this is indeed the case, I wouldn't be so quick to congratulate Ms. Arnestad on her 'fine work'.

Well one less terrorist organisation to worry about. The Tamil Tigers caused untold atrocities and hardship. Now that the war has been won by the heroic Sri Lanka government maybe normality can return and Sri Lanka can prosper. No more suicide bombers no more massacre by the Tigers, no more farmers and civil servants being killed.

War is hell especially one where the other side use despicable tactics like suicide bombings and torture. We must all pray the Tamil Tigers will never rise again.

Lets hope the Sri Lanka population will strive for a better and brighter future.

Now lets show a similar documentary about female suicide bombers in Iraq and Afganistan. Lets make being a suicide bomber romantic. Lets make Ozama and his goons freedom fighters as well. See how the Americans would appreciate it.

As long as the people who dies aren't U.S. citizens, you don't care. As always shows the hypocritical nature of the west.

The homicide bombers wanted to give their life like Jesus. What a joke. Jesus sacrificed his own life without killing anyone in the process. A murderer is still a murderer; regardless of how nice you try to coat it. Still, my heart goes out to them. My guess is they were taken at a young age and brain-washed. Come Lord Jesus. Come.

It is sad that the moralisers of this world are blind to the actions of their own govts. Violence is destructive be it in Sri Lanka or any where else. Who created this violence in SL.Initialy it was India later those countries that gave refuge allowed there countries to be used to create violence in SL. It is said that around 200m illion Dollars was collected in Canada alone for the LTTE. The other western countries have also been used to destabilise the sub continent.. Unless this hippocrisy stops this world will continue to suffer from terrorism.

No matter how well written these stories are, they are just that, a news article which the common western reader ponders over for a moment. The truth is there is nothing that can really be done to solve people’s problems if they themselves are not ready to solve it. War has never been more heinous than in Europe, the worst war mongers of the world can only be from Europe, there need be no more examples than the two world wars and the hate amongst various European nations, viz. English/French etc. But they have realized that after the Great War that it’s futile to fight. Now they have been able to collaborate and build one of the greatest industrialized societies of the world. This only way to succeed is by forgetting the past and working towards humanitarian goals. Otherwise problems like this will plague countries all over the world. Spirituality can bring people closer religion usually does the exact opposite.

India was in a position to prevent this genocide. However the Congress govt vengeful of the fact that Rajiv was assasinated by LTTE, promoted the genocide by siding with Sinhala govt. They did not see the larger picture of innocent Tamils who had nothing to do with Rajiv assasination. They watched silently as the massacre took place. In India various terrorist outfits have been brought to the dialogue table after offering amnesty inspite of innumerable killings of innocent civilians. But for one life who happened to be from the most powerful family in India, the entire race of Srilankan Tamils was let down. I have great respect for Rajiv and I think he was the greatest Prime minister we ever had but Im ashamed as an Indian citizen that India which claims to be a regional power did nothing to wield its influence to prevent atrocities in its backyard.

There is always two sides for a story. I wish the authur would have mentioned the freedom she had when living in Colombo.

The soldiers that protected her in Colombo gets no credit in ths blog. Why didn't she take the time to interview one of the soldires? I guess the soldiers were busy protecting her from her friends Darshika and Puhalchudar.

Lets not be narrow minded and report only on one side of the story. peace loving Sri Lankans who lived in harmony 3 decades ago lost everything because of this bloody terrorist group.

LTTE is a well known terrorist organization. United States of America declared them as one of the brutal terrorist organizations in the world. US intelligence even believes that they trained the Taliban terrorist. It is also known that they invented the suicide belt.

If you think I am bluffing please read what the US FBI has to say about them at http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/tamil_tigers011008.html.

These children took a path similar to the men and women of the American and French revolutions. They stood up for their rights as human beings. They fought and died for the cause of freedom, liberty and justice. They lost. Their cause was good, but they lost. Would the path of non-violence won them the victory they deserved?

People who denounce the suicide bombers have to think about soldiers of any country who are killing enemy soldiers and as well civilians as a collateral damage. In Iraq and Afghanistan innocent people are being killed every day by both terrorists and soldiers. US troops kill innocent people (collateral damage) in trying to maintain peace and US president gets Nobel price for this. If killings like this is justified, then why not by suicide bombers. If every country can form an army and kill people and justify it, then the same can be done by people who are trying to form their own country.

A nice documentary. This war indeed has been ignored/sidelined by major new agency. Just because Norway might be helping LTTE, it doesnt mean an individuals effort to bring out the truth should be critisized.

Now lets have some honest reporting in America instead of all the censorship. We know more about other countries than we do here. Im sorry I forgot. The government owns/controls the news stations here in the US. Maybe a documentary about the fight for poor people in the US. Thats right , its too complicated isnt it?

"ets get the peace and harmony to our country and this is the chance we got from the deaths of all the 70. 000 deaths from this war." >>> What Jude Sinkalla Fernando won't tell you is that 98% of the dead are Tamils!!!

They are hiding an ethnic cleansing progrom successfully. If Mr. Fernando and his Sinkalla Sri Lankan supporters are right then Ms. Amanpour should be able to visit the Jaffna peninsula, right?

Sri Lankan regime is spending 65 million rupees just for propoganda in USA this year.

Sri Lanka's main opposition party has accused the country's most senior army officer of being behind violent attacks on reporters.

Opposition MP Joseph Michael Perera told parliament that the attacks were carried out by a "special team" controlled by Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka.

Dangerous'

"We are told by those in the army itself that journalists are abducted and subjected to grievous injury by none other than a special unit under the army commander," Mr Perera, a former parliamentary speaker, said.

The World Association of Newspapers recently ranked Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous country in the world for media workers in 2007.

The present Sri Lankan regime has committed worst human rights law than the Hitler’s Nazi regime. But the international community has done nothing about it. I hope the international community will wake up and punish the current Sri Lankan regime for it’s human right violation.

It is not just a "Murder of Rajiv Gandhi", it was the brutal assasination of the Indian PrimeMinister "Rajiv Gandhi" and the murder of countless indian civillians, people who provided food, shelter and support to the SriLankan's.

Please do not trivialize this
.............................................

hahaha... the Indian "innocent' spinners are on board again.

What they won't tell you:

1) Indian ruling party Congress "created" LTTE and armed and trained them in the 1980s.
2) Rajiv Gandhi's so called Peace Keeping force killed 8000 Tamil civilians in Sri Landa during their terror campaign
3) Rajiv Ghandi stole billions of dollars from Indian tax payers (Bofurs scandal to name one)
4) 15 Indians died in total with the LTTE attack(only attack in foreign soil)
5) Sri Lankan navy killed 550 Indian fisherman but India never raised an issue with Sri Lanka
6)60% of Indian exports goes through Colombo

The reason these Tamils are being wiped away from is they are on the Most strategic seaway in the world.

Terrorists are terrorists whether they are against the Western governments (like Al qaida or Taliban is ) or whether they are against a poor nation like Sri Lanka.

I can only wonder whether this woman who is trying to glorify the suicide bombers would have a maternal relationship with the 9/11 terrorists.

Also she is writing only half truths and is totally one sided. and most of the things she say are not verified. Also she forgets to mention things like that the tigers were holding the Tamil civilians against their will as a human shield.

she also says that the mother of the suicide bomber was allegedly killed because she was "suicide bomber mama". well there are thousands of such maaveer families in the north and also Prabhakarans parents are also there. and they are still alive. What Crap.

There is nothing new in this video; we have seen many videos from Israeli mothers about Palestinian Mothers etc., It is very sad that we lose these young talent to groups that fight in the name of 'injustice'; what are the options available for them; Take a look at Maoists who are in a killing spree in India; take a look at Muslims killing Muslims in Pakistan; The second wrong act will never rectify the first wrong act. We, as a humanity of around 10,000 years of existence, is a TOTAL failure that we still don't have a framework to resolve conflicts without stretching to an extent of injustice and later a revenge for injustice. It is possible to identify conflicts well ahead and resolve it; but, for certain gains, WE chose to resolve it at a later phase; I don't think Sri Lankan conflict is over. Thousands of Tamils are still suffering in the refugee camps and there will be groups that will come forward to continue what LTTE left; Sri Lankan government must soothe the feelings of Tamils and bring them back to normal life and prosperity otherwise, Sri Lanka wont prosper by itself !!! It is a shame that this happened in the land where majority practice the teachings of Buddha!!!

If Arnestad's precious Norway had been terrorized with random violence for 35 days, let alone 35 years, she'd be one of the first people insisting that the government do whatever it takes to stop them.

Read up on these thugs. They attacked everyone. Civilians, Sri Lankan soldiers, Indian soldiers, they even turned on rival secessionist groups.

If their cause ever had any legitimacy, it was drowned in blood long ago.

Now we're supposed to pity them because their own aggression has turned Sri Lanka into a living hell.

Everybody has an opinion and has a right to their opinion but if you declare war on somebody else in order to fight for your cause you should be prepared to face the consequences. Very often in our world the guy who loses gets all the sympathy. This is wrong.

Articles like these can be used to portray terrorist groups in favorable light which would be such a distortion of the truth.

Beate Arnestad has only reported on one side of the story. I am sure if you hear the other side the empathy generated by this article will fizzle away.

India is the only country which supported the cause of Tamils in Lanka. But when they turned against India (because of the IPKF deal) and kill Rajiv, thats when things have changed.

A leader like Rajiv today would have stopped the Lankan Army killing innocent civilians. The tigers have lost their focus of freedom for people, and started working towards the power over their own people.

Please dont include the tigers in the list of great freedom fighters. They have made themselves into terrorists buy killing innocent people.

Their target should have been protecting their own territory and figiting the Lankan Army.

I wish the UN / international community give a goo thought about he political and human rights situation in northern Lanka.

What James said is really correct. They lost every bit of support from India, even if it was sympathy India has a big say in that part of the world and it was a real stupid move as an organization. I am not a supporter but wonder what was really going on in the minds of the planners.

I think its time the media in Western countries take an honest, serious look at the great progress Sri Lanka has made. It is no secret that without support and funding from western world (UK, Canada, Switzerland, Scandanavia and Australia) LTTE would never have been able to continue their violent campaign for so long.

It was a well known fact that LTTE was forcibly taking young children from their parents to be trained as terrorists and suicide bombers.

LTTE was the most dangerous and ruthless terrorist group in the world. Now the LTTE is wiped out we can travel safely in our own country.

I wonder if any of you have read "The history of Earth". If we compare earth's history to a 24 hour period, earth was born at 0 sec and the first known life came about 5 AM, it took a long time around 8:00 PM before a multicellular organism appeared, about 40 minutes before midnight the dinosour roar and us(homo Sapiens )appeared 11:59:58 before midnight.

It is very surprising to find that earth has survived for 23 hours, 59 minutes and 58 seconds without humans, yet for a period of 2 seconds our species is already in the brink of destroying earth.

From the very start, humans form of entertainment is killing each other, either because: one does not like what the other speaks, what the other religion is, what the other color of the skin is, what the other political belief is or simply we like to kill: in short we figure out a way to justify killing each other, and the scariest part of it is we are getting efficient at it( our Nuclear weapons).

70 years ago the German nation committed a crime againts humanity to the Jewish people. Other nations helped the Jews and Israel became a nation, but now the Jews are on top they are doing what was done to them 70 years ago to the Palestinian. And the excuse, " the land was promise to them by god". What god, whose god and was Moses even true or just a pigment of imagination of some story teller.

Now, we have another group who thinks blowing themselves up around innocent people will get them 7 virgins in paradise. Jihadist, please use what ever is left of your brain, at the rate you are blowing yourself up there won't be enough virgins left for the last Jihadist. And look around, have you seen your leaders strap a bomb and blow themselves. NEVER..

I think this planet would be better if the Iranian or the North Korean build the bomb. Nuclear weapons at the hands of unstable leaders, I can't wait. We will eventually destroy each other so why not do it now than later, the outcome would be the same anyway. And to the cocroach, you will inherit this earth please do not follow our footsteps.

this romatisism of suicide bombers is sick...yes they are human but they have brian washed....no reflection on that aspect...and also a reflection of the LTTE's lack of commitment to peace, quote "There was a ceasefire in effect...." but these young girls were continuing to be trained...the LTTE never had a genuine desire to settle this conflict peacefully...that is the part the west just keeps continually forgetting...if you go to war it is with the understanding that you can also lose.

The situation in IDP camps is terrible but to say that the sri lankan people don't care is unjust! Many many sri lankans have and continue to donate money and goods to rehabilitate and resettle those in the camps...this includes sinhalese as well.

But rather than trying to punish the govt and people of Sri Lanka for what happened during a war that is over, shouldn't the west look toward dealing with the ground realities now, without recrimination and finger pointing?

The blog has been narrated pretty well, It is a very good insight in to the minds and lives of these girls.

I don't think the writer has an idea what the families of the Government Military goes through. There are families who have lost all their 3 boys to the war. I would consider this documentary more of a one sided parody.

LTTE (tigers) never took POW, once taken prisoner the POW would be an issue of logistics for the LTTE. Many instances hundreds of Government Soldiers were executed while they were holding white flags . This was done Vice Versa as an act of revenge.

Hi! I am Sri Lankan. And i find this article to be 100% pro-LTTE. It's true that Tamils have had their fair share of discrimination. But as things have started to get better in our country, the international media is attempting to reverse that process. it must be understood that post war Sri Lanka would take some time to get over the problem of refugees, etc.

The LTTE was a terrorist force (proscribed by the U.S and many other nations)until the horrible murderous monsters were anhilated last May by the Sri Lanka government forces. Now they are a spent force. Why is CNN trying to revive them ? This video clip is an old one by a Norwegian and Norway was the chief sponsor of Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka. Christian Amanpour, I suggest you get this movie maker across to the Taliban controlled areas of either Afganistan or Pakistan and romanticize the Islamic militant suicide bombers instead and let us Sri Lankans enjoy our hard earned peace..

I lost my boy-friend a sri lankan transport pilot, but a month later I worked under a Tamil boss in Colombo – my first job. My boss and I got on perfectly. I had no illusions that she had to pay for my loss....(?) Made no sense then, makes no sense now.

When the holiest buddhist site was bombed, I thought oh all things are impermanent as Buddha said.. I also felt sad for the perpetrators of the crime as they now have heavy Karma to pay off.

Sad to see that jounalistic masterpieces can still be made with fuzzy logic.

I lost my boy-friend a sri lankan transport pilot, but a month later I worked under a Tamil boss in Colombo – my first job. My boss and I got on perfectly. I had no illusions that she had to pay for my loss....(?) Made no sense then, makes no sense now.

When the holiest buddhist site Temple of The Tooth Relic in Kandy was bombed by the LTTE, I thought oh all things are impermanent as Buddha said.. I also felt sad for the perpetrators of the crime as they now have heavy Karma to pay off. I harbour no hatred against my Tamil brothers and Sisters. Its just a name...Tamil..Sri Lankan...

Many Tamils in Colombo hold very high posts. I dearly loved Late Mr Lakshman Kadiragamar foreign minister, and if we must label, a Tamil gentleman. He was a former president of the Oxford Union and a genius to boot ! But he was gunned down by LTTE snipers as he stepped out of his swimming pool in his own home, and in front of his wife Suganthi. What a loss of a great Tamil Leader...at the hands of the LTTE terrorists. LTTE has harmed not only Tamil leaders but Tamil children. May they be able to awaken to a new dawn of Books & noble careers!

Our comments on this article? Sad to see that jounalistic masterpieces can still be made with fuzzy logic.

"What was the difference between freedom fighters and terrorists? And who decided? As I became more and more drawn into their world, such questions demanded consideration." look these nive norweegians have done to my poor country .

its really a touching story. however the problems of this world have their roots mainly embedded in greed for political power.there is need for joint intervention by the superpowers to put an end to this even if it means ratifying the world laws. Michael Agaba, Kampala, Uganda

It is heartbreaking and i dont like tigers because they are facists. they killed discreminately they killed tamils, muslims and sinhalese. Why do not take another film covering the ethnic cleansing of Muslims by the Tamil Tigers in the northern Sri Lanka?

I'm a university student on Sri Lanka...
In the university I ve friends, tamils and sinhalese. There is no diference between us. We act as one. Sinhala ppl always treat tamils equally.
No one can ever justify suicide bombers. 9/11 attack was also a suicidal attack. What's the difference between that incident with the SL suicidal bombers incidents. Can you justify that. Can u say that the pilot, (suicidal) is someone like Jesus. I don't think so.
Now US is involved in many conflicts in different nations. We hear that there are lots of suicidal bombers attacking to US soldiers. Are those bombers also equal to Jesus?? Be fair...

What writer of the article is saying that Mr Gandhi and Dr king are irrelevant. CCN must not encourage any writter to write half baked articles. There cannot be and let me repeat it.. there cannot be any justification of the violence committed by LTTE. Each and every LTTE involved in this war is a criminal. Sri-lankan armed forces has every right to protect their democratic society. Prabhakaran and other LTTE members got what they deserved. If Tamilians are not given due rights.. let them protest in a proper way to gain attention of the world.. but using violence.. no way!!! Every individual supporting LTTE... including the writter... please grow up!!!

I read a story of a boy suisider. In that it was very clear they were misinformed to make them suisiode carders. First the LTTE kill innocent Sinhalese villagers in Army iniforms and film them and show them to these people as done by SL army. This particular boy was shocked to see a Sinhalese person talking to a Tamil person in Colombo. According to what was shown to him this was not possible.He did not know most Tamils live in Sinhalese areas with Sinhalese. They have been brain washed with lies and misinformation. This is the same they do in other countries. They make bogus vedios and show as the things they do as done by SL army. They cheat and misinform thier own people with falsehood to gain thier selfish racial desires. We see it all the time.

It is a greatjob.every one talk about Rajivgandi murdered by LTTE,THERE IS NO STRONG EVIDENCE that LTTE had involved in the case,it was suspect by the Indian government,it was not prooved clearly,to convince the Rajiv gandhi family the officers investicated the case had suspected many people but they cant find any thing finally they blamed the LTTE,so all the people belived that the LTTE were involved.but the commison asked more than 50 questions in that case but there were no answer for that question.It was a planned murder many bigpolticians were involwed in thatcase,1- Sriperumbuthoor meeting was not planed before,it was arranged suddenly,why?.2-during assasination very important tamil cong leaders are not near Rajivgandhi ,why?.3-many cong & dmk leaders are involved in that assasination,which was told by the commision,there were no action against them,why?...............before blaming LTTE pl study the case well.for Rajivgandhi murder India supported Srilanka to kill PRABAHARAN.Srilanka killed PRABAHARAN and also 1,50,000 Tamil people within 3 months,NEXT WHAT ? the God knows, in TAMIL what we say " vinai vithaipavan vinai arupan"-that means "WHAT WE SEEDED ,WILL BE YEILDED", ONCE I LOVED INDIA,NOWADAYS I AM SHAMED TO SAY INDIAN, I AM PROUD TO BE A TAMILAN ,LONG LIVE TAMIL,TAMILEELAM ENGAL THAGAM

Ever since I heard about Beate Arnested and her documentary about the plight of Tamils I was hoping to see the documentary screened in USA. It always takes a woman to thought provoke the conscience of the mass. Sri Lanka has successfully portrayed the Tamils as evil but and the evil doers as the heroes and victims unfortunately the terror tactics though condemned by all Tamils seem to have brought Sri Lanka to look for clever means to solve a lingering issue and achieve a political agenda to please the majority Buddhists.
It is a shame this documentary is getting discussed after nearly an year from commencement of the latest offensive against Tamils in the North. There has been such offensive against Tamils in the 90's too, in all there has been nearly 100k deaths committed by Sri Lanka’s military and the Indian military backed in the 90’s all for the reason being hunting for LTTE.

Sri Lanka is a small country agree but when Tamil survival is threatened Tamils left with no option but to seek a safe zone in the North. We all saw the eventuality of the safe zone Sri Lanka allocated for it’s Tamil citizens at final episode of the so called “war” with out witness and rules. Tamils from the South always counted on the cover in this very Northern zone not anymore. LTTE is the brutal defense for Tamils when the internationally backed brutal Sri Lanka kept on charging at them ever since they asked for a safe Eelam. As long as the extremists are functional in Sri Lanka no chance of Tamil dignity may
be today when the world is watching but tomorrow the same old chess game starts to play the Tamil pawns.
If these young women didn’t choose to be with the LTTE they may have been raped and killed by the Indian army that invaded the North to help Sri Lanka in the 90’s or even by the Sri Lankan brutal military since 1975 when Tamils started rebelling. What choice these women could have had I wonder! my heart goes out to them. Those who critiques in this forum classing their survival instinct as evil should think again. What is that they could have done if you were women in the shoes of Dharshika and Puhalchudar. This documentary is surfacing nearly two years after it was hailed with many European awards. Thanks to Beate Arnisted for her effort in unraveling the story from the point of view of the underdog while the world sending congratulatory messages to the leaders of Sri Lanka for massacring the innocent in the borrowed banner of War on Terror. Sri Lanka ceased the opportunity to process a Buddhist only Sinhala Sri Lanka to please the mahavamsa the bible equivalent Buddhist fanatics follows pleasing the mass means, more votes for the bullys!.

It always takes a woman to provoke the conscience of the mass. Unfortunately the terror tactics condemned by all, brought about the excuse for Sri Lanka to look for clever means to solve the lingering issue to achieve political agenda, please the majority Buddhists for votes. It is a shame this documentary is getting discussed after nearly an year from commencement of the latest offensive against the Tamils in the North of Sri Lanaka.
There has been similar offensive against Tamils in the 90's as well in total there has been nearly 100,000 deaths committed by Sri Lanka’s military and the Indian military back in the 90’s during their mission to hunt for the LTTE. Sri Lanka is a small country agree, but when Tamil survival is threatened Tamils have been left with no other option but to seek out for a safe zone in their native North. We saw the eventuality of the safe zone Sri Lanka provided for it’s Tamil citizens during the final episode of the so called “war” with out witness and rules.
Tamils from the South always counted on the cover North could provide in case pogrom of 1983 repeated that is the very same Northern zone now under siege in every Tamil's mind.

LTTE is the brutal defense for Tamils when the internationally backed brutal Sri Lanka kept on charging at them ever since they asked for a safe Eelam only in 1975. As long as the Buddhist extremists are functional in Sri Lanka no chance for Tamil dignity. Promises could be made easy but not kept by Sri Lanka. Today the world is watching but tomorrow the same old political game of chess will play against Tamil as pawns to please the hard line Buddhists. If these young women didn’t choose to be with the LTTE they may have been raped and killed by the Indian army when invaded the North in the 90’s or even by the Sri Lankan brutal military since 1975. Sad to think what choice these women could have! Those who critiques classing their survival instinct as evil should think again. What is that you could have done differently if you were woman in the shoes of Dharshika and Puhalchuda all because of the neglected abuse over the years after independence. It seems to me, Tamils are trying what ever it takes to stay alive as minority among the majority in my opinion.

This documentary is surfacing nearly two years after it was hailed with many European awards. Thanks to Beate Arnisted for her efforts in unraveling the story from the point of view of the underdog while the world sending congratulatory messages to the leaders of Sri Lanka for massacring the innocent under their borrowed banner of War on Terror internationally yet claiming sovereignty for Sri Lanka. They ceased the opportunity to process their agenda to create the Buddhist only Sinhala Sri Lanka for the mahavamsa followers, it is the bible equivalent for the Buddhist, pleasing the mass means, more votes for the bully Sri Lanka yet again!.

Tamil survival issue is an internal issue and I have no idea why this is on the world stage and now getting
all the accusations and comparisons. LTTE killings in comparison to the Sri Lanka killings of Tamils is negligible. LTTE had a screwed up phylosophy to eleminate anyone who did not have the sole focus that is the long term survival of Tamils in Sri Lanka that is my take. Tamils are hard industrious and hard working enough to the envy of the majority Sinhalese hence when the hardline Bhuddhist mobs play up against Tamils they keep quiet about it. If the ordinary Sinhalese wanted they could have put a stop to the policians playing Tamils in their political agenda. The Mahavamsa followers are the cause of it all and unless they accept the fact that Tamils are also the natives of Sri Lanka they have every right as a citizen of Sri Lanka. Agree the people can get along but when Tamils are picked Sinhalese stand by and watch!!

Thanks to CNN.
Sri lanka has never learned a lesson in the last sixty years.
I am supporter of Tamil Eelam. The world must learn a lesson from Sri lanka. Freedom Fighting and State Terrorism always goes together. Freedom Fighters never lose.

Britain never thought of giving freedom to India until World War 2.
WW2 changed the entire world order. Time will change.

2)Mass mania against all non-Bhudhist practices in the country. The same monk leading the mobs has made statements "Tamils are invading Sri Lanka" these are the Mahavamsa hardliners who believe they are saving Bhudhism and believe per the scripture Tamils are lessor human practice evil in the name of Bhudha.
Sri Lanka refused Dalai Lama's visit incase their belief may get swayed!
Monks get recruited at a very early age, among them only a small minority cares about humanity for Tamils. The others propagate evil, advises the regime to walk away from peace talks to feud further in a way they are child soldiers to create a Sinhala Bhudhist Sri Lanka where there should be no other ethnicity. All in the name of Bhudha is mind boggling! Check out the link below it is from a reputable Sri Lankan news paper. The reporter should be praised for bravery in a country where they risk their lives to speak for humanity..

Thank you for the opportunity to post, looking forward to further reporting by Christianne on human rights and womens' plight in the Tamil region of Sri Lanka that is being colonized rapidly from what we read.

The fact that journalists have been having no free access to the whole of Northeast three years before the Tigers were wiped out and seven months after they were wiped out speaks a great deal about the never-ending tragedy:

Interesting how the PR companies are playing a role to introduce
hate against Tamil quoting 9/11 the most sensitive issue in the US
especially after xmas once again.

The PR company Sri Lanka hired is doing a shitty job....I received
a comment notification today :Mon 1/04/10 10:33 AM about a comment posted on by A. De Alwis 12/15/09 as follows I have copied from above and pasted below....
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A. De Alwis December 15th, 2009 428 GMT

Tamil SUFFERING?? Typical Norwegian BS. How about the thousands of inncocent Sinhalese that have died because of the suicide bombers profiled in this biased documentary. BTW "Chuck", it is the LTTE that introduced suicide bombing to the Al Quaeda. Maybe you can thank them for the carnage they caused on 9/11.

----------------------------–
Response:

Tamil suffering is not only reported by Norwegians also by most of the
countries care about human dignity. Innocent Sinhalese died of suicide bombing!!! what a load of BS I did my home work on that from
what I found LTTE avoided civilian casualties they could have easily caused civilian suffering but they carefully only went for "the machinery that was persecuting Tamils" but foolishly went for Tamils who were moderate politicians that is my gripe. Please don't compare Sri Lanka killing to LTTE killing of innocent civilians, it is an insult to intelligence of the world that has read all about the war without witness over the past months.
The other fact remains Tamils are seeking a SAFE ZONE unlike the one allocated for them at the end of the so called war "to release the Tamils from the clutches of LTTE to be put in the hands of brute forces without witness again".

Interesting ...
When one watches the documentary will realize how delicate such issue for Tamils who are doomed either way hence picked arms in their hands to determine their destiny. If the Budhha loving -Tamil haters are taught Bhuddhism the right way Tamils need not be seeking a safe zone called Elam, they would feel safe with their government. Sri Lankan police watches Tamils getting picked and properties looted. Sinhala brothers criticize Tamils but do nothing or in fear of saying anything against
such attrocities of the ruling regime ! It was the case in 1958, 1977, 1983 and now in 2009 the ones who reported about it in the media is no longer..What are the choices left for these helpless people if they are not assured dignity & safety? It is their birth right, they have been reduced to such a grade now having to beg for their basic.
WelL done Sri Lanka!

Please make room for Mr Richard Goldstone as he has to make a report on the atrocities committed here - oops, sorry, it's only when the alleged atrocities are committed by Israel that a report is warranted, everyone else gets a free pass.

Hello Mr. Goldstone are you listening? Shall I make a plane reservation for you to come to Sri Lanka? Oh, I see you only concern youself with Israel.

Its really painfull to know... one has to live as sucide bombers... because of political aspiration of someone... there is definatley a big difference between army war and civillian war.... If some baby is born in war zone... question comes... will this baby will become sucide bomb sometime... and if the same baby is born in peaceful place.. we will dream of becoming some good human being... Oh!! this itself is big injustice.

Here sucide bombers who are the result of injustice done to them are by heart innocent people and what they will do, they will kill other hundreds of people... as US bombed Afgans (may be good to kill terrorists)... but innocent people also got killed and it will be injustice to these innocent people and who will be again ready to become terrorists and will further kill more innocent people as sucide bombers.... and the cycle repeats.... Injustice does more injustice to get justice.

Sometimes I think, what Gandhiji did in India, is the best way to fight for injustice....

To solve such issues of the world there need to be a lot of man
hours. When the people of these countries are sacrificing their lives
in seeking freedom they surely won't count the hours to work for a peaceful solution. It is that the able countries are wasting money on wars instead of making headway for negotiated peace.

I am sure a lot happening without our knowledge to bring about peace in the troubled countries of the world but never enough for the ill informed mass . People have been kept in the dark for decades thinking about the good samaritan work around the world.
What people did not know about is the process of how peace is proposed to the rogue Govts of the world to cut cost in the short term
without being analytical of the problem.

The human cost of wars, hate breeding among the underdogs of the world got us on a cycle of curse. My take is there will be NO TERRORIST if no TERROR inflicted on them in the first place 100% fact in the case of Sri Lanka's Tamils.
Funnily enough I read China went around and bought all of the scrap metals of the world, probably that was speculation on China's part to supply barbed wire for the world need.....I am not being cynical here but the way things are developing the globe needs barbed wire to put around it, China will have the morals and capability to take care of such need of the world.
Hi Praveen above ....on your comment mentioned of Gandhi
If Gandhi tried what he tried back then in the current world, one of these would be certainty.
He would have been refused entry to the West, killed, imprisoned as a person breeding hate, tortured until he gave up the struggle for freedom or may be put in mental asylum for walking around in the cold wearing cotton! Gandhi's whole clan may be serving life sentence in the maximum security prison doing hard labour......have you thought about that scenario at all? Those days are history the
screwed up world is full of evil thoughts, greed and beliefs to validate such thoughts by the hate breeders, Monks, Priests, Clerics, and the establishments that thrives promising the unknown after life!.
Life has lost values, decisions need to be made based NOT on cost/benefit but on righteousness, high morals, ethics, etiquette after spending enough time on analysis work now President Obama is getting accusations for not rushing back on the same hate wheel
by the majority !!! That is the world we live in..

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